Lee University hosts Symposium on Thinking and Civic Virtue

Dr. Thomas Pope, professor of political science at Lee and director of the CRC, leading a panel discussion during the symposium

Symposium attendees gather for a group photo

University of West Florida students participate in a panel discussion during the CRC Symposium held at Lee

Lee University’s Center for Responsible Citizenship hosted the ninth annual Civic Thinking and Virtue Symposium. The symposium brought together Lee students, faculty, alumni, and members of the broader community for two days to engage in stimulating conversation on the year’s theme, “American Identity.”

“The purpose of the symposium was to think, as a community, about what it means to be ‘American’ and how our experience of citizenship can be mediated by our diverse backgrounds,” said Audrey Haley, CRC program coordinator and Lee alumna. “We wanted to consider how race in particular informs American citizenship.”

The event included several small group discussion seminars and a guest keynote lecture on Friday evening. Readings included the 1965 debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr., selections from Baldwin’s “Letter from a Region in My Mind,” Frederick Douglass, Mary Antin, Theodore Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King Jr.

“The symposium was a really fun experience full of great discussions,” said Lee University political science major Kaitlyn Stoker. “I especially enjoyed reading the Buckley-Baldwin debate and being able to discuss that reading with others.”

This year, Dr. Nicholas Buccola, the Elizabeth and Morris Glicksman Chair in Political Science at Linfield College, presented the keynote lecture. He discussed James Baldwin’s philosophy of love and patriotism, emphasizing Baldwin’s radical empathy and bold confrontation reflected in his novels and writings.

“I really enjoyed the symposium and its topic,” said Jeremy Draper, a political science major at Lee. “It was a fruitful conversation about real issues that were approached from multiple lenses. It really helps a person understand how to be a better person. and citizen in the context of the world around them and, for these reasons, encapsulates the whole purpose of the undergraduate experience.”

The symposium on “American Identity” was just one of many opportunities offered by the CRC throughout the academic year. Through weekly events and meetings, CRC hopes to facilitate, equip and encourage students to think critically. In a time full of conflict and confusion about Christian engagement in the world, it is a place for all to discuss and learn the fundamental need for moral and civic virtue in political life.

The CRC thanks Lee University, its alumni, the Jack Miller Center, the Institute for Intercollegiate Studies, the Institute for Humane Studies, and members of the greater Cleveland community for their continued support. Their generous contributions make CRC programming possible.

For more information about the CRC or to collaborate with its activities, visit leeucrc.com or contact [email protected].